Madrid is prepared to send peacekeeping troops to the Gaza Strip “once the opportunity presents itself, “Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said on Thursday.
“Of course, we have not forgotten Palestine and the Gaza Strip,” Sánchez told a gathering of Spanish ambassadors in Madrid, El País reported. “Spain must actively participate in rebuilding hope in Palestine,” he added.
“I will propose to parliament, when the opportunity presents itself, that we send peacekeeping troops to Palestine, once we can see how to advance this task of pacification,” the prime minister continued.
Sánchez for the first time confirmed Madrid’s possible participation in U.S. President Donald Trump’s envisioned International Stabilization Force, which would provide security in the Strip, according to El País.
Trump’s U.N.-endorsed plan includes the international force working alongside local police officers, as well as a Board of Peace, which the president will chair and which is to support transitional authorities.
The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office declined to comment on Madrid’s announcement when contacted by JNS on Thursday.
On May 14, Sánchez denounced the Jewish state as “genocidal,” and Madrid has intervened in favor of the genocide charges that South Africa filed against Israel at the International Court of Justice in 2023.
In September, Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares recalled Madrid’s ambassador to Israel, Ana María Salomón, for consultations after Jerusalem announced sanctions against two Spanish Cabinet members in connection with Madrid’s hostility toward Israel.
Israel had banned Deputy Prime Minister and Labor Minister Yolanda Díaz and Youth and Children Minister Sira Rego from entry and ended all official contacts with them, citing violent and antisemitic statements they made following the Hamas-led terror massacre on Oct. 7, 2023.
On Dec. 30, Spain enacted a ban on the import of Israeli goods produced in Judea, Samaria, eastern Jerusalem and the Golan Heights.
Sánchez’s government has also enacted an arms embargo against Israel, banning all military trade and technology exports, though last month, it moved to exclude aviation giant Airbus due to fears that the restrictions could endanger Spain’s “economic viability essentials” if fully applied.
